Obama Administration Boosts Aid For Struggling Homeowners...

The Obama administration said Tuesday it is expanding its plan to stem the housing crisis by offering mortgage lenders incentives to lower borrowers' bills on second mortgages…

www.dailymail.co.uk

Mortgage Bill Looks Doomed…

The centerpiece of President Barack Obama's plan to keep thousands of people from losing their homes amid the worst economic crisis in decades is headed for defeat next week in the Senate...

www.nypost.com

Surge in middle-class homeowners seeking help

The collapse in the housing market and the economic slowdown is increasingly taking its toll on middle-class homeowners, a company that specializes in buying properties from cash-strapped sellers said today..

www.independent.co.uk

Foreclosures will keep rising as unemployed owners fall behind on mortgage payments..

Bloomberg.com
Home resales in the U.S. probably slipped in March after jumping a month earlier by the most in more than five years, indicating the market will not rebound quickly, economists said before a report today.

US economy goes back to 1955 as deflation returns..

Guardian.co.uk
The US economy has begun to deflate for the first time in more than half a century as a slump in demand pushes energy and food costs lower.

The consumer price index fell at an annual rate of 0.4% in March, the first decline since August 1955, figures from the US labour department showed today. It was bigger than the 0.1% drop expected by economists…

Critics scent blood on Obama mortgage bill

FT.com: Opponents believe that they can defeat the legislation. That would be a blow for President Barack Obama, whose administration is still pushing the bill as a key element of its housing plan..

Mortgage Fraud Crackdown Is Gathering Steam in Florida

Yahoo! News: A big problem the feds face is that the housing crash has created a whole new slew of cases.

The first stage of fraud, which helped bring about the crisis, is now being followed by a second as people scheme to buy up foreclosed homes and other properties whose prices have plummeted, or as desperate homeowners hurry to refinance exorbitant mortgages or get their interest rates and principals reduced.

Record number of middle classes desperate to sell homes..

Record numbers of middle-class homeowners are trying desperately to sell and move to smaller properties.

As a 'white-collar recession' begins to bite deeply, new figures show a sharp jump in families looking for a quick sale on houses worth £500,000 or more.











Experts say the downturn is entering a new phase and even high earners face losing both their jobs and their homes.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Some clever schemes have paid off for cash-strapped towns

According to the "Adversity Index," produced by MSNBC.com and Moody's Economy.com, 9 out of 10 metro areas in the U.S. are in recession, with 0 areas in recovery.

In light of such dire statistics, it's hard to imagine that there's anything individuals can do to help get the nation out from underneath the economic crisis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com

Consumers Should Check Credit Reports After 40 Million Cards Stolen

Because of the scale of the theft, it is very possible your credit, and possibly even your identity, has been compromised. The number one way to detect identity theft is to check for errors on your credit report.

If someone has been fraudulently using your identity, making charges and opening accounts in your name, it will show up on your credit report..

Source: www.breitbart.com

Obama (as TV Salesman) Pushes Home Refinancing

The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation.

He is not a mortgage broker. But for a time on Thursday, President Obama seemed to be playing one on television, urging Americans not to miss out on rock-bottom refinancing rates. From his perch in...

Source: www.nytimes.com

The rising jobless rate manifests itself in consumers' increasing reliance on credit cards..

"I'm trying to find optimism in these numbers, but I'm pretty hard pressed to do that," Adams said, despite a recent burst of relatively positive news that has fueled hope that the U.S. housing market has turned a corner.

But Adams said the continued increase in mortgage delinquencies revealed in his data foreshadows more foreclosures, short sales and home price declines as homeowners default and banks then repossess the homes to sell them at deep discounts...

Source: www.reuters.com

Mortgage delinquencies SOAR in the U.S.

More U.S. consumers are falling behind on their mortgages, an indication that the housing market has yet to hit bottom, a top credit bureau executive told Reuters.

Dann Adams, president of U.S. Information Systems for Equifax Inc, reported that 7 percent of homeowners with mortgages were at least 30 days late on their loans in February, an increase of more than 50 percent from a year earlier..

Source: www.reuters.com

U.S. property bust threatens condo "death spiral"

Condominium and homeowners' associations are facing what experts call a trickle-down disaster from the property crisis. Dozens and perhaps hundreds of condo buildings have budget shortfalls as thousands of owners, under water on their mortgages or in foreclosure, stop paying monthly fees...

Source: www.reuters.com

No End in Sight to Job Losses; 663,000 More Cut in March. “It’s really just about as bad as can be imagined,”

The American economy surrendered 663,000 more jobs in March as the unemployment rate surged to 8.5 percent, its highest level since 1983, the government reported Friday.

The severity and breadth of the job losses — which afflicted nearly every industry outside of education and health care — prompted economists to conclude that an agonizing plunge in employment prospects was still unfolding, with no clear turnaround in sight.

Source: www.nytimes.com